


Early Morning

by makos_lightningrod



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 18:29:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2821964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makos_lightningrod/pseuds/makos_lightningrod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She returns a day earlier. Before anyone notices her arrival, she drops her bag in her room and easily slips out the same way she came - through the window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Early Morning

Before anyone notices her arrival, she drops her bag in her room and easily slips out the same way she came - through the window. She makes sure to give Naga a tight hug, happy when she feels the warm moisture of her nose against her arm. “I missed you,” she whispers, her forehead pressing against hers before pulling back.

It lasts a good ten minutes before she pulls back and smiles at her. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.” Naga gives her a look that she’s all too familiar with before giving her soft fur a kiss - just behind her ear.

It takes her no longer than half an hour to go across Yue Bay and onto the mainland. She hears people notice her return, but what strikes her the most is the rubble still left behind from three months ago. She feels the a wave of guilt, but continues on until she arrives to her destination.

She peers up at the curved roof of the building and walks inside. She knows her way as if she’s lived there all along. When she comes to the door, she reaches above the frame and feels the cool ridges of the metal key between her fingers.

The door creaks open and she slips in, noticing that it’s dark inside the apartment, but it’s expected. She knows it’s only five in the morning, but time seems to stop when you’re beyond the spirit portal.

When she sees the shape on the bed, her attention immediately turns to it and she walks over, her footsteps quiet against the hardwood floor. She can’t help herself.

She looks at his face and can see that he’s deep asleep, but she doesn’t think she can wait until he wakes up. Her hands go to her boots, pulling them off because she knows he hates it when she gets into bed or sits on the sofa with her shoes on. He complains that it’ll leave a stain, but maybe he won’t care this time.

Still, she doesn’t chance it.

Her knees hit the top of the mattress and she falls forward on her hands, keeping herself up before she crawls toward the top of the bed. Her body shivers and she feels a layer of goosebumps.

She can hear her heartbeat and thinks it’ll wake him up, but his body stays still. She smiles to herself and relaxes, moving the blanket aside so that she can lay down behind him. Even with the space between them, she feels the heat radiate off his back.

He’s so warm and she can’t help but move closer so that her chest nearly makes contact, but she resists.

But she can’t stop her cheek from resting against his back. The shirt he wears is faded, but soft. The logo on it reminds her of their old days of probending and she aches at the memory of when they seemed so young.

Had it really been almost five years ago?

Her body stiffens when his moves. She holds her breath and can feel the blood rush to her face. She’s always been good at holding her breath, but the seconds seem so long. But when he stops moving, she relaxes and closes her eyes.

And then his hand catches hers and her eyes pop open.

"This is pretty compromising, don’t you think?"

She’s caught. And she curses because she thinks she’s a much better sneak than that.

But he’s a detective.

No.

She peers at the uniform hanging against the door of his dresser. The dark navy and white colors seem to blend in the dark, but she can make out the pattern - the shape.

He’s part of the order.

"I wanted to see you. And I didn’t want to wake you up," she tells him with half-hearted honesty. "You seem tired." If it was wholly honest, she would have said that she just wanted to watch him sleep. He always seems to look like he has no care when he sleeps.

Maybe she should stop watching him sleep so much.

"You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow," he tells her, his voice a bit husky from sleep. It makes her shiver and she scoots closer, her nose pressing against his shoulder for a moment.

"You don’t sound happy that I’m home," she whispers and feels his hand move hers so that their hands are clasped together for a mere moment.

And then his eyes are meeting hers and she feels her breath hitch. “Hi.” She wonders if that greeting really came out of her mouth. And when he says hello back, she sighs.

"You know that isn’t true." Their hands find each other again and she reaches up with her free hand to push his hair from his eyes. She appreciates how his hair is always swept back when he works, but she misses the mess that it was when he was younger.

It reminds her of the boy with who she fell in love.

But no matter the hair, she looks into his eyes and they are the same.

She aches, thinking about how many days have gone by when they knew one another. How she left for so long and refused her own letters to him. But he doesn’t give her malice - not anymore. He understands.

He promises her he’ll follow her into battle.

But they both know he means more than that.

He will follow her anywhere.

He moves for a moment and then his mouth is on hers.

And she realizes that she wants him to follow her, too.


End file.
